A History of Coaches and Managers Who Were Fired After Good Seasons

New York Rangers coach John Tortorella was fired last week after being bullied by the Boston Bruins in the second round of the NHL playoffs. Besides the beat down, the Rangers didn’t actually have too poor of a year. They made it to the playoffs for the third straight year and upset the higher-seeded Washington Capitals. But GM Glen Sather didn’t focus on liquid half of the cup.

Truth is, he isn’t the only one. Plenty of coaches and managers throughout sports history have been fired after (relatively) successful seasons. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, for instance, is famous for his impatience. He’s gone through enough managers in his reign to employ the rest of the Premier League. Take a look at this sorry group of souls with a History Coaches and Managers Who Were Fired After Good Seasons.

Team: New York Yankees
Year fired: 1960
Previous season: 97-57; Lost in World Series

Casey Stengel really messed up by turning 70. He wasn't fired for losing by a ninth-inning homerun, but rather "involuntarily retired" because management believed he was too old to coach. Stengel returned the Yankees' courtesy by joining the Mets. Stengel's Mets finished in last in each of the four seasons that he managed them. Hmm...maybe age is more than a number.

Team: New York Yankees
Year fired: 1964
Previous season: 99-63; Lost in World Series

The Yankee legend stayed with the team as manager when he ended his playing career in 1963. Despite his stature, he never had control over the team. In one incident Berra got into it with a player playing his harmonica too loudly on the team bus. GM Ralph Houk reportedly wanted to fire Berra since mid-season, so the World Series appearance couldn't save him. Yogi then spent the next eight years in blue and orange as a coach for the Mets, including their title winning season in 1969.

Team: Baltimore Orioles
Year fired: 1997
Previous season: 98-64; Lost in ALCS

Davey Johnson brought the Orioles back to the playoffs in 1996 for the first time since the team won the '83 World Series. He did it again in '97 and was named AL Manager of the Year for his efforts. On the same day he received the honor he also quit before owner Peter Angelos could fire him. The two never got along, but the relationship went from sour milk to downright rotten when Johnson fined superstar Roberto Alomar for skipping a team banquet and exhibition game.

Team: Seattle Supersonics
Year fired: 1998
Previous season: 61-21; Lost in conference finals

To this day George Karl still has the best regular season coaching record for the team formerly known as the Supersonics. In a contest to decide who got to lose to the Bulls in the '98 Finals, the Lakers ceded that honor to the Utah Jazz. When the team failed to renew his contract, Karl moved on and got his ducats from the Milwaukee Bucks.

Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Year fired: 2002
Previous season: 9-7; Lost in wild card

The Philadelphia Eagles led to Tony Dungy's downfall. The dynamic duo of Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb embarrassed the Bucs two years in a row, in 2001 and 2002. Dungy would become the first Buccaneer coach to be fired with a winning record. In a rare trade involving a coach, Tom Gruden came to Tampa Bay the following year and beat the Eagles in the NFC Championship on the way to a Super Bowl victory with the team Dungy built.

Team: Florida Marlins
Year fired: 2006
Previous season: 78-84; Manager of the Year

Numbers can, in fact, lie. Girardi kept the Marlins in playoff contention despite having the lowest payroll in baseball at $15 million. However, his firing may have had more to do with a skirmish with owner Jeffrey Loria during the middle of a game. Girardi told Loria to stop harassing the homeplate umpire and the owner had to be talked out of firing his manager right after the game. Girardi would have the last laugh, though, joining the Yankees a year later and winning the World Series in 2009.

Team: San Diego Chargers
Year fired: 2007
Previous season: 14-2; Lost in division round

The Chargers improved from their 9-7 record in 2005, but Marty Schottenheimer, who holds the records for most wins without a Super Bowl, still couldn't get it done in the playoffs. The New England Patriots defeated Schottenheimer in his last NFL game with a late fourth-quarter field goal. Marty got his first championship in the UFL in 2011 and earned a cool million for the eight-game season.

Team: Toronto Raptors
Year fired: 2008
Previous season: 41-41; Lost in first round

Apart from Chris Bosh, Sam Mitchell had a dull, non-threatening 2007-2008 team. Hopes were pinned on 2006 No. 1 pick Andrea Bargnani anchoring the team at center, which is terribly sad in retrospect. So it's a minor miracle that the Raptors even squeaked into the playoffs with a 41-41 record. Fast forward to the next year, the team started off hot, but was tested by an injury to Jose Calderon. Mitchell was hastily fired with an 8-9 record.

Team: Dallas Mavericks
Year fired: 2008
Previous season: 51-31; Lost in first round

Just two years after winning Coach of the Year, Avery Johnson was "relieved of his coaching duties," feeding those who say the award is cursed. Disappointed by the team's lack of playoff success, Mark Cuban—hardly waiting for the sweat to dry from the Mavericks first round exit to the Hornets—delivered the news to Johnson hours after the final game. Johnson returned to coaching in 2010 for the Nets, a stint that only lasted two and a half seasons.

Team: Phoenix Suns
Year fired: 2009
Previous season: 28-23

Being fired mid-season is already bad enough, but Terry Porter lost his job while also sitting on a winning record. GM Steve Kerr, unsatisfied with Porter's slower coaching style, gave the job to assistant Alvin Gentry on an interim basis. The Suns went on to miss the playoffs, which might have made Porter feel a little better. But probably not.

Team: Texas Tech
Year fired: 2009
Previous season: 8-4; Alamo Bowl berth

Mike Leach never got a chance to coach Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl. His success wasn't enough to cover up allegations that he made a concussed player stand in an equipment room after missing practice. Leach was suspended indefinitely Dec. 2 and subsequently fired two days later for refusing to apologize to the player. Shit got messy when Leach sued the university for wrongful termination. A simple "sorry" would've been much simpler.

Team: New Orleans Hornets
Year fired: 2009
Previous season: 49-33; Lost in first round

Byron Scott was yet another former Coach of the Year to be canned just years after winning. The Hornets made the playoffs for the second consecutive year during the 2008-2009 season, but the next year didn't start so smoothly. Scott lost his job for starting 2009 3-9. Chris Paul reportedly wasn't a fan of the firing, for good reason. The team failed to make the playoffs that year with GM Jeff Bower calling the plays.

Team: Washington Capitals
Year fired: 2011
Previous season: 54-15-13; President's Trophy; Lost in first round

Bruce Boudreau and his two star players, Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, brought the President's Trophy to the nation's capital for the first time in team history in 2010. That success didn't translate, however, with the Caps losing to the eighth-seed Montreal Canadiens in the first round. The next season started off great, but Ovechkin and Semin went cold in November. Boudreau took the blame for the measly four wins in 13 games. The Anaheim Ducks snatched up the coach two days after his firing and Boudreau led them to a 27-23 record which wasn't good enough to make that year's playoffs.

Team: Chelsea
Year fired: 2011
Previous season: Second in the Premier League

Don't listen to Ricky Bobby; second place is nothing to scoff at, especially when your team was once in fifth. Ancelotti led Chelsea to five straight Premier League victories late in the season, vaulting to the No. 2 spot. His effort, however, was not rewarded. Roman Abromavich fired the manager just two hours after the final game of the season. SMH.

Team: Oakland Raiders
Year fired: 2012
Previous season: 8-8; Missed playoffs

A .500 record and a failure to make the playoffs may not sound great, but this is the Oakland Raiders. "Just win, baby" seems like an ancient mantra for the silver and black. Since losing the Super Bowl in 2002, the Raiders finished with a losing record in all but one season. Hue comes in for his first year as a head coach, keeps the team at a respectable 8-8, and what's his reward? The Raider front office showing him the door.

Team: Chelsea
Year fired: 2012
Previous season: Won Champions League and FA Cup

Di Matteo became Chelsea's interim coach in the middle of a shitstorm. Under André Villas-Boas, the squad had just lost 3-1 to Napoli in the first leg of a Champions League matchup, and to West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League, placing the team three points behind fourth-place Arsenal.

Somehow Di Matteo switched up the juju, beginning with a 4-1 victory over Napoli in the second leg to advance to the quarter-finals. Improbability didn't stop Chelsea as they took down mighty Barcelona and Bayern Munich to become the champions of Europe. Di Matteo was appointed full-time manager in the off-season, but it didn't last long. He was fired halfway through the 2012-2013 season.

Team: Wigan Athletic
Year fired: 2013
Previous season: Won F.A. Cup; Relegated from Premier League

The 2012-13 season got weird for Wigan. The Roberto Martínez-led squad shocked Manchester City to win the F.A. Cup, but also relegated from the Premier League with a piss-poor 36 points. Wigan's board didn't find the dichotomy charming. Martínez is reportedly in talks with Everton to fill their coaching vacancy.

Team: Minnesota
Year fired: 2013
Previous season: 21-13; Lost in sweet sixteen

Minnesota doesn't exactly scream basketball. But after leaving Kentucky, Tubby Smith took the Golden Gophers to the NCAA Tournament three times. His last season was his most successful, making it to the Sweet Sixteen as an 11-seed before bowing out to Florida. Jay Bilas, like many, didn't like the move and tweeted, "I'm sick at the firing of Tubby Smith. This is the business we've chosen, but that doesn't make it right. Not a better man in the game." Texas Tech was smart to hire Smith soon after.

Team: New York Rangers
Year fired: 2013
Previous season: 48-26; Lost in second round

In his four years with the Rangers, John Tortorella turned the New York into championship contenders. The Blue Shirts reached the Conference Finals in 2012, creating high expectations for 2013's lockout-shortened season. The Rangers made the playoffs as the No. 6 seed, but they lost in five games against the Bruins in the Semifinals. Some reports say that it wasn't just his failure to meet high expectations that led to his ouster; Tortorella's brash personality may have been a factor, too.

Team: Manchester City
Year fired: 2013
Previous season: Second in the Premier League; FA Cup runner up

Man City's first league title in 44 years was enough to rapidly inflate expectations for Manchester's second team. The team's quality on the pitch dipped the next season, but not by much. Ignore their failure to escape the Champions League group stage, and you still have a team that finished behind only rival Manchester United—a team that hit the back of the net 86 teams during the season—in the Premier League, and made it to the FA Cup Final. Had this happened 10 years ago, Mancini would have been a hero. City's board didn't see it that way. Mancini is a victim of his own success.